I have been in Houston now 15 years.  I moved here on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, having lived in New Orleans about 17 years.  Understandably, this weekend brought back some memories.  But it also made me mindful of all my friends and former co-workers still in New Orleans, as I watched news of Hurricane Ida barreling through Louisiana.   Thankfully, the levees around New Orleans held, so the city didn’t flood like before.  My friends have reported the expected damage from the winds and rains, but they are okay and finding ways to survive until the electricity is restored, which could be several weeks.  I have heard that people in Baton Rouge, and some of the lower-lying areas south of New Orleans had significant flooding and other damage.

If you are of a mind to help, please consider donating directly to the Red Cross.  They have the resources to multiply the value of a dollar and they know the types of tangible goods that are most needed — blankets, food supplies, cots, etc.   Of course, if you know of a specific humanitarian charity, and know what they need, giving to those places will help as well.

I didn’t make enough to cover the rent with the End of Month sale this past weekend, so I had to expedite the next batch of Blog Reader Specials for you instead of waiting for the weekend.  I hardly ever remember holidays in time to make appropriately themed yarns, but this time I remember that Halloween is coming, and there is enough time to knit some Halloween-themed socks or scarves.    Woo-hoooo!!

I asked on Facebook for some Halloween colors, and I used those colors for this new collection — black, gray, red, purple, green, yellows and  golds.  Most of the colors are obvious, but a few I wanted to point out:

Twinset #740 & 741 – when it was freshly wet with dyeing I thought I saw a perfect Halloween-like dried blood.  Now that it is hanging it looks more purple-ish, but it is actually a mix of black and darkened red.  It came out a fairly consistent overall solid color, and will look FABulous as a shawl to go over a black outfit to a party!

Twinset #734 & 735 is a ‘smoosh/schmear’ of a yellow base overlaid with gold, orange, gray, and a little sprinkling of black.   And I confess, I am starting to really like the combination of the yellows/golds with overlays of grays done in a schmear technique.  It is a really wet and messy technique in order to push the colors around, but I like the random-looking result.

Twinset #746 & 747 has a long span of black, short green, short dark purple, and another short green.   In the picture it is difficult to distinguish the dark purple from the black.

Several of the Twinsets are straight half-and-half two-toned and will work up into self-striping spiral stripes as socks, but the degree of spiraling will depend on your own stitch count and gauge.

All of these are Phydlbitz II (sock yarn), 75/25 Superwash Corriedale/Nylon, and are 430+ yards each.  They are $27.00 each.

I expect to have these ready to ship on or before Friday.

To claim the ones you want, just send me an email indicating your numbered selections.  As always these are one-of-a-kind dye jobs and can’t be exactly duplicated.  If you need more than two of a particular colorway, I can do a complete set of however many you want so that you have sufficient quantity and the colors will coordinate.

Available Yarns: 
Rack 1:  734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745
Rack 2:  746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757

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